AN- I'm not good at titles or summaries so those are probably gonna change at some point.
Anyways, hi, I'm Joltik, and I haven't written a Smash Bros fic in years. I wrote a really long, kind of crappy magical girl fic when I was in junior high, and as a lover of both magical girls and Nintendo, I've long since felt a need to repent for this by writing a less bad Smash Bros Magical Girl Fic. Since I've since grown out of my edgy tween phase and learned more about Nintendo things that aren't Pokemon, Zelda, or Fire Emblem Awakening, and since Joker just came out and I adore Persona 5, now's as good a time as ever.
So, here goes.
When told that a family friend's son would be staying with them over the summer, Zelda had gotten pretty excited. It would be wonderful to have a new friend to spend time with instead of praying someone would talk to her at the library. This Link guy was from out of town, and around her age, so they could find tons to talk about, surely!
And yet, it had been a week and he hadn't spoken to her once. At first she'd assumed he was shy, until she tried to ask him why he was staying with them, and was pulled aside and given strict instructions by her father to not ask him that. By that point, she started worrying. Had something bad happened to him? Was he going to be alright?
After that, she became determined to befriend him. No matter what had happened to him, it was pretty clear he needed a friend, so she was more than happy to take that role! So, she decided to start with a nice gesture that would make him comfortable: a housewarming cake!
A few cookbooks and failed attempts later, she wound up with an acceptable carrot cake, and went to his door with a slice on a plate. She felt a bit nervous as she knocked- what if he was allergic to carrots? She hadn't thought to ask about allergies! Or what if he didn't like sweets, or-
The door swung open before she could panic properly. Link was still in pajamas, but didn't look like he'd slept at all judging by the dark circles under his eyes.
"Um," she started hesitantly, holding out the carrot cake. "I, uh, wanted to make you feel more welcome here! So I made you a cake! There's more in the kitchen… oh! And if you don't like carrot cake, I can make a different kind! Sorry, I really should have asked-"
A quiet voice caught her off guard, and she was a bit startled to realize it came from Link. "You made this… for me?"
"I- I did!" she stuttered out. "I-is it alright?"
He took the plate from her. "It is," he mumbled. "I just don't understand… did your father make you?"
"No!" she quickly assured him. "Of course not! I just wanted to be nice, you know?"
He smiled slightly. "Weird, I was expecting you to not like me much. I mean, I wouldn't be this nice to a total stranger barging in on my house."
"Why not?" Zelda questioned. "I mean, you seem nice enough! Besides, if something's out of your control, it's best to make the most of it!"
For a solid thirty seconds, he stared at her like she'd just said she was a space alien. After a moment, he took a deep breath and looked away. "That's very… optimistic of you. Uh…"
Hastily, he shoved a forkful of her carrot cake in his mouth. "Th-this is really good!" he exclaimed after a minute. "Thanks, um, what was your name again?"
"Zelda."
He nodded. "Zelda, right. Sorry, I'm just bad at names. Anyways, you wanna go get some and eat in the kitchen? You should try this."
"Uh, sure!" She was really glad Link was alright with sharing; she really liked carrot cake! Plus, she was finally getting him out of his room!
Once she got her cake, she attempted more conversation, while trying to avoid any of the sore spots her father had warned her about. Asking where he was from might be a sore spot, so maybe something more surface level.
"Um, so, do you have any hobbies?", she questioned.
He shrugged and took another bite of cake. "I mean, nothing unusual. I like cooking, I guess. And reading."
"Oh, I like reading too!" Zelda exclaimed. Maybe not the deepest, most unusual connection, but it was her favorite hobby, so that was something! "There's a really great library in town! We should go there sometime!"
"Uh… sure," Link agreed. "I mean, I should probably get dressed first."
"I didn't mean today!" Zelda quickly corrected, frantically waving her hands. "I mean, unless you want to today, that's fine! But we don't have to go today!"
Again, he just shrugged. "I mean, I don't have any plans today, might as well."
"A-alright!"
They quickly finished the cake, and as Link went to put actual clothes on, Zelda gathered up the books she had checked out. She'd tried the first few volumes of a manga series she'd heard about, and while they were cute, they didn't catch her interest much, so she wouldn't be continuing the series. Maybe she'd look at nonfiction again and see if there was anything interesting there…
When he came out of his room, with actual clothes on, Link gave her a concerned look. "That's an awfully big bag. Can you carry that all?"
"Course I can!" she assured him. "It's just the books I checked out yesterday!" She opened the front door. "Shall we?"
He nodded and they headed out. "Yesterday…", he mused, glancing at her book bag again. "Well, uh, guess you meant it when you said you really liked reading, huh?"
"Well, you know, it's summer and I don't have anything better to do," she explained. "Besides, it was just some cookbooks and manga, nothing too heavy!"
"Whatever you say." Link glanced around. "How far is this place, anyways? Are we going to the bus stop or something?"
"Huh? No, it's just a mile away! Not far at all!"
"And that's not far?" Link questioned.
"No?" Zelda wondered if it would be bad to ask if he was from a big city. "Um… is that far where you're from?" There, that sounded better!
As he seemed prone to doing, he just shrugged. "We'd usually drive places."
"Well, dad took the car to work, so can't really do that," Zelda mumbled. "I'm really sorry if this is too far for you! We can go another time if you'd rather!"
"It's fine," he assured her. "Just, uh, can we go a bit slower? I get kinda winded easily."
She slowed her pace. "Of course!" Was this one of those things she wasn't supposed to ask about? All of this piqued her curiosity, but she didn't want to make Link uncomfortable…
"So, Link! Um… it's a nice day out!"
He glanced over at her. "You don't have to think of things to talk about if you don't want to. I don't mind quiet."
A lump formed in her throat. Had he meant that as "shut up" or "don't worry", or as something else all together? Whichever it meant, she just really hoped he wasn't mad. She mumbled an "okay" and slipped into silence, eyes wandering along the shop windows they passed.
After a moment, she realized Link had fallen behind, so she turned around to see him looking in the window of an antique shop, at a rusted machine of some sort- looked almost like an old pot that had grown legs. Once Link noticed Zelda looking at him, he looked away with a nervous chuckle. "Uh… sorry, just… stuff like this is interesting to me. Machinery and all that… Kinda just mentioned the not weird things when you asked me earlier…"
"That isn't weird at all!" Zelda exclaimed. "We should go in! I have some pocket money if you want to get something!"
"I- I wouldn't want to ask that of you…" He mumbled as Zelda held the door open for him. In resignation, he entered the shop, adding a "well if you insist" and started looking at the machine in the window closer. Meanwhile, Zelda found herself looking at some old jewelry behind a glass display case. A tarnished gold ring caught her eye, with strange symbols in a language she didn't recognize written on it.
As she leaned in closer, she heard a voice she didn't recognize. "Want to look at anything closer?"
She jumped a bit, startled. When she looked up, she saw a girl behind the counter, glancing at her as she polished up an old knife. "Um, I was just curious about that ring there!" Zelda explained, pointing to the weird ring. "Do you know what it says, miss, um…" She looked at her nametag. "Fiora?"
Fiora shook her head. "Nah, not too knowledgeable about stuff like that. Shulk would probably know something, but he's not in today. You can come back in tomorrow if you want and ask him."
"Hm, maybe… Could I have a closer look at it first?" Fiora unlocked the case, and Zelda picked the ring up carefully, looking at the runes on it. "They look kind of familiar… Well, I was headed to the library anyways! Could I go ahead and buy it now, I wanna try and decode it myself."
"Knock yourself out," Fiora said, going to the cash register. "That'll be ten bucks, do you want a bag?"
She dug in her bag for a "I can wear it out- oh, right! Hey Link!"
Her new friend looked up from the machine. "Yeah?"
"You wanna get that thing?"
He looked back at the machine and sighed. "I mean, I do, but how exactly would we get it back to the house!"
"Oh, we can help with that!" Fiora piped up. "My brother should be back from lunch break any minute, I'll have him help you guys."
"Really?" Link questioned. "Is that something you usually do?"
Fiora rolled her eyes. "No, but if I have to hear Shulk try to explain to me how that thing works one more time, I'm gonna blow a fuse. So I'll bring it over there myself if it gets rid of the thing."
Link smiled slightly. "Thank you, miss. Zelda, do you want to go on to the library? I'll catch up with you."
"But you don't know how to get there!" Zelda protested.
"I'll take him myself," Fiora volunteered. "Or make Dunban do it or whatever."
"Oh, alright! Thank you!" Zelda wasn't sure why, but she was incredibly eager to go ahead and learn more about that ring. Something about it was just entrancing! So, she paid for it and the machine and rushed out the door.
As she slipped the ring on her finger, she admired it a bit more. It was actually quite pretty, despite the tarnish. Maybe she could get something to polish it up! That might help with the runes, should they prove undecipherable.
A voice suddenly interrupted her musings- "Huh? Oh, finally! That took forever!"
She looked around frantically for the source. Was Link behind her? Or someone else? She didn't see anyone but a few passerbys paying her no mind.
"Who's there?", she asked softly.
The unknown voice huffed. "Aww, seriously? Do I gotta explain everything? I thought I felt some magic in you!"
"Magic? Excuse me?" Her chest tightened. Was this a prank? "Where is this coming from?"
"Um… maybe it would be better if you sat down?" the voice suggested. "Uh, here!"
Without any motion of her own, Zelda found herself stumbling towards a bench, sitting down roughly. "H-huh?" Her heart was racing. "What-?"
"Sorry, sorry!" the voice apologized. "I know people don't like it when I do that, but it's faster sometimes! I'll try not to do it again, alright? Just, uh, close your eyes! I'll try to explain stuff better there!"
"You'd better, whoever you are," Zelda mumbled as she closed her eyes.
After a moment, the blackness gave way to a strange, glowing stage, seemingly made of blue crystal. A boy, a bit younger than her, maybe, stood in front of her, wings stretching behind him.
"Hello there!" The angel greeted, his voice the same as the strange one she'd heard a moment before. "I'm Pit, and you just found the ring I'm trapped in!"